Buying property in Spain is as quintessentially English as drinking tea. But who are these purchasers, what do they want and where do they buy? Here are some answers.

TWO million Britons own property abroad. Five hundred thousand own property in Spain.

More than 150,000 Brits bought second homes overseas in 2005 and 100,000 are planning to move abroad within the next six months.

Britons invested £12 billion in Spanish property in 2004/05. This is predicted to reach £21 billion by 2009. Some 75,000 properties were purchased, at an average price of £160,000, and one in three want to retire to Spain.

It seems that we know a lot about how many people are buying in Spain and the level of investment but relatively little about who is buying, what they are looking for and why. Kyero.com, the leading Spanish property portal connecting buyers and sellers of Spanish property, conducted a survey of more 400 people.

The average person seeking a property in Spain is male and between 41 and 60. The majority of people want to join the other 200,000 Britons and permanently relocate, with 26 per cent viewing Spain as the ideal retirement destination due to the warmer climate, sociable atmosphere and reduced taxes.

Even with a wider choice than ever of countries in which to purchase it seems that once people decide on Spain they rarely look elsewhere.

It’s not just Brits who are interested, with enquiries being received from the USA, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, India, Japan and Portugal.

Of the respondents 73 per cent were seeking existing or resale properties with new build coming in second at 32 per cent. Regarding property types, the most sought after are studio apartments with two or three bedroom villas a close second.

Views of the ideal home tend to vary depending on the province. In Alicante, for example, three-bedroom apartments are most desirable, compared with three-bedroom villas in Girona or one-bedroom apartments with swimming pool in Gran Canaria.

With regard to property prices, the majority of budgets range from 150,000 euro (about £100,000) to 200,000 euro, which may not be realistic for some as the Spanish Property Price Guide from Kyero.com reveals that the national average property price is currently 250,000 euro.

The survey revealed 97 per cent of respondents viewed the location of a property as important.

The draw of the sun, sea and sand is hard to resist, with the provinces of Alicante, Granada and Malaga being the most highly sought after.

Most important factors when considering location are shops, a hospital, bar, restaurant, pharmacy, bank, post office, public transport, police station and airport.